Being a well-rounded translator is not a bad idea, but many translators have their own specialty that they have developed and focused on for their entire career. Sometimes though, translators and interpreters might want a change of pace, and break into different fields. While this isn’t easy, it’s also not impossible to start fresh in a new specialty field. So long as you have the determination and patience necessary to change your specialization, you can do it.

Depending on the field that you are switching to, what you will need to do will change. For example, if you want to go into a technical field such as information technology, you should focus on gaining knowledge of the field to be able to adequately translate or interpret the materials given to you. The best way to do this is to go back to school, or perhaps take a course at a community college. The latter choice would be a relatively inexpensive and an easy way to get the necessary knowledge of information technology. If there are any gaps in your expertise that need to be filled, you can try to contact experts and ask them to give you advice and answer any questions that you might have.

For everything else, there is the internet. For example, if you are trying to learn about the finance, there are many online resources such as investopedia that highlight the intricacies of financial documents. Other fields such as technology—especially more specific fields that deal with things such as data centers, contact centers, cloud services, and cyber security—have very specific terminology that translators who do not specialize in the field might have trouble translating correctly. For these, it might take you some time to read and research online.

For legal and medical matters, it is not as easy as just going back to school. You also need to take required training and have enough experience to satisfactorily translate or interpret matters of the law or medical fields. Experience is tricky to gain without having prior knowledge or specialization, but you can try working as an interpreter in training and begin trying to get your knowledge and experience that way. Try to expose yourself to opportunities and learn on the job, or go back to school and try to learn more about legal or medical terminology. Furthermore, do your best to build a portfolio of your work so that you can quickly show employers what you can bring to the table. Sometimes some work that you’ve done has elements that stand out in other work. With a portfolio, you can easily point to the work you’ve done and prove that you are capable of working in the field.

For the best results when translating, it is important to always think about the context in which the source text was written and how it might be perceived if brought to the target culture. What this means is that language and culture are always very tightly intertwined with one another, so what one language might find normal, another language might find abnormal or outright offensive. For example, in the Hopi Indian language, there is no word for time, so their understanding of time is very different from most of the world where there is a defined word and definition for time. Similarly, divorce does not have its own native word in most Indian languages, and they instead use the English word “divorce,” if they ever want to get a divorce. However, divorce rates are much lower than they might be in other places in the world, due to their culture seeing marriage as a lifetime commitment. These kinds of cultural differences is why you have to do a little research when you are translating.

Similarly, in Japan, they have adapted a lot of English words into their own language and use them on a daily basis, but if an English speaking person heard these words, they might have a different idea of what they mean. For example the word “lamp” might mean a kind of light that you might find on your desk or in the room, but in Japanese, it is used almost exclusively for indicator lights. So when you translate languages that use words that appear in the target language as well, be sure to make sure that they have the same meaning in both languages.

Another thing you should be careful of is avoiding idioms altogether if you can help it. Idioms are commonplace in any language, but there will not always be an equivalent idiom in the target language. Unless the idiom is very essential to the translation, you should try to figure out a different way of phrasing it. For example, the phrase “two birds, one stone.” There may be equivalents to this in some languages, but if the target language does not have an equivalent, then you could instead say “accomplish two things with one action” or something of the sort.

While translation can be a fairly straightforward process of just taking the source words and then convert it into the target language, it can often be much more complex than that. While fields such as technical and patent translation might encourage a more one to one translation, there are some styles, phrases, and references that just won’t translate if you adapt a one to one style. That is where some creative liberties come into play where the translator tries to find replacement words or phrases that won’t always have the exact meaning of the original, but will be able to give the same nuance or elicit the same kind of reaction as the original did in the source language.

Things can differ slightly depending on what language you are working with, but it’s always important to remember your audience and the area that you are translating. This post will cover some basic things that you will want to keep in mind while translating from English to Japanese.

1. Honorifics. Depending on what you are translating, you will have to think about how you will write names. Japanese is a language that places much importance on politeness and hierarchy, so when translating from English to Japanese, it is important to make sure that you are able to incorporate honorifics into your translation if necessary. For example, while in English, there is only really one way to say “Your Company,” there are several ways to say it in Japanese, but if you are talking to a valued customer, you wouldn’t just say “Your Company.” You would say something that would be equivalent to saying “Your esteemed company” in English. It is important to do this to not only show respect, but also allow others to know the status of the relationship, that is, the hierarchy of the relationship.
2. Kanji versus Hiragana/Katakana. For those of you that do not know, the Japanese writing system has three ways to write out their words. Kanji are Chinese characters while Hiragana and Katakana are more similar to the English alphabet in that each individual character can be used to spell out words. The difference between Hiragana and Katakana though is how they are typically used. Katakana is often seen in contexts where foreign words are being spelled out while Hiragana is typically more for Japanese words. Together all three of these make up the Japanese writing system.

However, when translating, it isn’t always clear when you should use either. You can use hiragana or katakana instead of Kanji and vice versa. Then there are situations where there might be a word in English that most Japanese speakers know, thus it doesn’t need to be translated into Japanese, and can just be phonetically written out in Japanese. For these distinctions, it is probably best to check with the client if you are not sure about which they might prefer, but typically you can just check online to see which version of the word is used more in the context of the original document.

3. Subject. In Japanese, it is normal for names or subjects to be dropped from sentences, so it can become a little difficult sometimes to determine with absolute certainty who or what is being talked about in certain sentences. For example, consider the following: “Sarah is out walking her dog. She will be back later.” If you were translating this into Japanese, you might use Sarah, but other than that, you would exclude “her” and “she.” You might even leave out “Sarah” depending on what the previous sentence was. Knowing when to drop the subject is an important skill to have and is easier for those who are native Japanese speakers than it is for English natives who learned Japanese.

There are many more important things to be careful of when translating English to Japanese, but this is just a short, and brief introduction into translating English to Japanese. I hope if you are starting out as an English to Japanese translator that you will find this short post helpful.

Since the importance of language service providers’ work cannot be stressed enough, we would like to shed some light on the positives that come from working with language service providers (LSPs).

You might think, “I have a family member who speaks another language, why can’t I ask them to do it?” In some cases, if the situation is low-stakes and simple, that may be helpful. But most requests for translation and interpretation have high stakes and require training that your friend or family member probably doesn’t have: simply being bilingual isn’t enough.

Translators are excellent writers in their native language, and they are trained to research and use technology effectively to help the translation process. They know how to take into account the register, purpose, discourse, and audience of a text in order to translate completely, accurately, and fluently.

Interpreters have another refined skill set, including differentiating key information, using appropriate terminology, and using various memory and note-taking techniques. Language professionals know how to do jobs accurately and efficiently, whereas untrained people are more likely to make mistakes or lack experience in bridging the gap between two languages, which can make a huge difference down the road.

Now you’re convinced that you need a professional, but you don’t know any – where can you find such a person?

This is where LSPs come into play. LSPs have strong networks of vetted translators and interpreters whose performances are evaluated regularly. LSPs know which translators specialize in legal translation, which interpreters specialize in medical and health care interpreting, etc. They also work hard to understand the client’s request and related needs, so that they can find the perfect match for the job.

Finding the right translator/interpreter is one major function of LSPs, but they do much more. LSPs can handle large volumes of work, and they can complete projects ranging from translation of a simple Word document to video subtitling to providing interpretation for conferences. Of course, every LSP is different; some choose to focus on certain domains (such as legal, technical, or medical) and some specialize in only one or two types of projects (audiovisual localization, for example). No matter what they specialize in, the best LSPs have plenty of experience working with language-related projects and can deliver high-quality projects to client’s satisfaction!

The multilingual experience that LSPs have allows them to provide consultations and advice to clients about linguistic and cultural differences that could affect their projects. Different languages have different challenges, and LSPs have experience tackling these. Most importantly, LSPs are typically familiar with different cultures and they can spot any potential faux pas and correct them before the project is finalized.

Our final thought: Most people who find their way to working in the translation and interpretation industry are incredibly talented and passionate about languages! Whether they are translators, interpreters, LSP employees, or other language professionals, they have spent their time training and refining their skills. LSPs like Monterey Language Services are able to harness the talents and passion of these people and channel it into high quality language services for our clients!

The majority of students told us that they shared our values for bridging the language gap between diverse communities and industries. Indeed, the team at Monterey Language Services feels very grateful to have the opportunity to serve people and society by providing translation and interpretation services every day at work.

Students’ professional experience consisted of internships and volunteer work ranging from medical interpretation in hospitals to technical translation on important topics such as oncology, nuclear energy, manufacturing, and IT.

Students had all sorts of questions about internships and the possibilities for work at regional and international levels that Monterey Language Services offers. Many of them had diligently done research and knew about our upcoming project management and interpretation vacancies. They were impressed by the numerous opportunities offered by our company and admired our community involvement. After a very concentrated exchange of ideas, they left our booth feeling very hopeful in the future of the translation industry and our company’s role in it.

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. Please feel free to request a quote from us.

“Machine-assisted human translation vs. human-assisted machine translation” was the topic that won the Monterey Language Services Tech Contest, which took place on Monterey Language Services’ Facebook page and ended today at noon.

Participants were mainly from the Chinese program of the Translation and Interpretation School of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, which is the largest program in the school. Congratulations to Qianxi, the winner, and all who participated! (See his victory speech here.) We felt your energy and it was breathtaking. We hope to see you next time.

The 36 comments touch upon the future for translators, development of language technology and machine translation, CAT tools such as Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast, power of machine translation, human translators versus machine translators, translation software, how machines can improve efficiency and productivity for translators, a real life story with Google Translate, training machines to translate, coding and decoding, translation segmentation, machine language, repetitions in text, subject knowledge and specialization, theory versus reality, and more.

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

To assure this, we have developed a rigorous management process, starting with choosing the best translators from our translator database. We always select translators with the subject matter knowledge and experience necessary for the project at hand, using translators who specialize in marketing for marketing translations, medical translators for medical translations, legal translators for legal translations, and technical translators for technical translations.

Using translators unsuited to the subject matter leads to mistakes, and it is the most common problem in translation projects. That is why selecting the right translators is a fundamentally important step in our process.

We don’t rely on just a handful of translators. We have a huge database and network of linguists, many of them accredited and certified, and we are continually expanding it, always looking for the best translation professionals in their fields. We start by screening our translators and testing them to make sure they are able to perform to our standards. We also build and maintain a professional working relationship with them, to make sure they understand our standards and our clients’ needs.

Even after the translation is complete, we further review our translators’ work to make sure they meet our quality requirements. We find, isolate, verify and resolve any issues. With the multi-stage quality assurance process, which uses at least two linguists for every translation, followed by an extra round of QA and Verification, we ensure that no mistakes slip past us into the final product.

Doing the job right the first time is utterly important. It saves time and avoids extra cost. Best yet, it helps our clients increase communication success and business growth. This is our mission every day and we are loving it!

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

You have found us – we provide quick & easy solutions for all your translation needs. Tell us about the subject of the text to be translated, its size and the languages you want, and we will provide a quote. Send us the files, and within short order, we will deliver a clear, accurate, complete translation.

That’s it! That’s all you have to do. Simply send us the text you want translated, then leave all the rest to us.

Of course, quite a bit more goes on behind the scenes, starting with doing the translation right the first time. We use a multi-step process to ensure the quality of our translations, starting with the translation itself, then editing, followed by proofreading and QA. Every translation is confirmed by at least one other linguist to assure that the meaning of the original is conveyed clearly and accurately. 

We also check for completeness and formatting and can perform DTP image editing as necessary. We work with any format, from Word documents, to PowerPoint presentations, to Excel spreadsheets, to software applications, to website localization. Whether you’re looking to translate a code of conduct, an employee handbook, company policies, a slideshow, a survey or a script, we can make it happen.

We can also handle any subject matter. Whether legal documents, technical manuals, or medical reports, our highly-trained translators will rise to the challenge. Our specialization is in highly-technical subjects.

Furthermore, we provide over 175 languages (including Arabic, Japanese, Hebrew, Malay, German, French, Indonesian, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Hindi, Norwegian, Polish, Russian and more).

We treat every project with special care, and our goal is to always try our best to make sure the readers understand the original text in their own language, as clearly and as easily as possible. 

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

Through accurate and clear translation of corporate communication materials, customers and employees can gain a better understanding of the corporate message and guidelines and can thus better contribute to the greater success of the corporation.

Global companies working with Monterey Language Services are growing stronger because they have chosen a translation and interpretation company that gives individualized attention to each translation project entrusted to them.

Our company stands firmly by what we believe in and provides the following to our global corporate customers.

Specialty: Translation and interpretation that require high level of expertise

Domains: Medical, legal, technical, and business subjects

Approach: Clear, accurate, and complete translation and interpretation

Value: Professional, efficient, and high quality services

Languages provided: Over 175 languages (including Arabic, Japanese, Hebrew, Malay, German, French, Indonesian, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Hindi Norwegian, Polish, Russian and more)

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

Fact: Based on the 2010 data, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics also project 58,400 translation and interpretation jobs available to translators and interpreters.

Question: How many professional translators and interpreters are out there to take the translation and interpretation jobs? Is being bilingual or multilingual enough to warrant a successful translation and interpretation project?

The story below is brought to you by Ringo Li, a conference interpretation student at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

I would like to share some insights based on my personal experience. I grew up speaking Mandarin and started learning English since elementary school. Later, I attended high school and college in the United States. I am a proficient bilingual, which opens up many doors for me. Yet, I can tell you that I am far from a qualified translator or interpreter.

Becoming a professional translator and interpreter often requires years of education and training. Experience is also a key element. Moreover, the language specialists’ expertise in specific fields such as medicine, business, technology, law or international relations can also increase success. These are some useful criteria for seeking quality language services. After all, quality work is what matters the most — a highly skilled translator or interpreter can always explain things clearly and accurately in another language.

Today’s world is filled with an overflow of information. When it comes to language services, there are numerous choices — but there are only a few reputable, quality providers. For best results, always look beyond mere bilingualism and multilingualism!

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

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